I’ve been watching Dear Prudence, a TV mystery movie that, with a ‘sequel’ promised, could potentially become a series if they tighten it up.

Prudence McCoy is a Martha Stewart type (cast considerably nicer) who winds up in Wyoming instead of Connecticut. She’s cute but a bit ditzy. As mystery fans, we want to smack her when she mops up evidence, but she uses her knowledge of household tips to pick locks and otherwise further her investigation. She has a "solution for every problem", such as hemorrhoid cream for softening the skin under her eyes.

The writers set it apart from other mysteries in that her Watson, in this case her geeky lab assistant Nigel, is damn smart and at least her equal in investigation, which is refreshing. If they make him less stomach-churningly cowardly and childish, he’ll do nicely.

I can’t decide why Jessica Fletcher comes to mind, other than they’re both endearing well-dressed cosy-types on the Hallmark Channel. As protagonists, they’re otherwise dissimilar.

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